2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season

2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles
men's ice hockey season
2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles; men's ice hockey season
Conference	9th Atlantic Hockey
Home ice	Dwyer Arena
Rankings
USCHO.com	NR
USA Today/; US Hockey Magazine	NR
Record
Overall	7–12–3
Conference	3–9–3–0–2–1
Home	3–6–1
Road	4–6–2
Neutral	0–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Jason Lammers
Assistant coaches	Ian Burt; John Lidgett; Mark Phalon
Captain(s)	Chris Harpur
	Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey seasons; « 2019–20 2021–22 »

The 2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 25th season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 11th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Purple Eagles represented Niagara University and were coached by Jason Lammers, in his 4th season.

Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Niagara's players would lose a season of play.^[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.^[2]

Niagara had a difficult start to their season, with the team's defense unable to withstand sustained pressure for most of their games. By mid-January the team was near the bottom of the conference with just 2 wins in 13 games. To make matters worse, the Purple Eagles weren't able to play any games for 6 weeks due to COVID cancellations. When they finally managed to play again they decided to use Chad Veltri as their starting goaltender. In the final two weekends of the regular season the choice appeared to work out as Niagara split both weekends while Veltri recorded the only shutout for the Purple Eagles on the campaign.

Niagara entered the postseason as the 9th seed and needed to beat Mercyhurst to keep their season alive. After the Lakers scored the first two goals of the game it looked like NU would have an early summer but Veltri withstood a barrage of shots from Mercyhurst over the final 38 minutes and allowed Niagara to crawl its way back and win on a late marker from junior transfer Walker Sommer. In the quarterfinals, the Purple Eagles had to face Robert Morris, a team that had won all four meetings to that point. The Colonials won the first game but they needed overtime to do so. In keeping the game close, Veltri game his team an opportunity to win and the sophomore netminder remained hot in game 2 as well; Veltri faced 51 shots over an 80-minute span and the frantic pace appeared to wear on Robert Morris who weren't able to get a single shot on goal in over 7 minutes of play in the second overtime. Instead, it was Niagara who fired 5 shots on goal with the last tying the series at 1-all. Veltri was again front and center for the team in the deciding game, facing 45 shots in regulation. Niagara built a 2-goal lead and held it until just 12 seconds remained in the game, when RMU scored their only goal on the night, allowing Niagara to pull off a huge upset in the conference tournament.

In the semifinals, Niagara had to get past league-leading American International, who had not played a game since the end of January due to their own series of cancellations. Veltri continued to keep the Purple Eagles in contention, stopping everything in the first two periods and giving the team a lead entering the third, but AIC's slumbering offense awoke in the final frame, scored two goals, and ended Niagara's improbable run.

Trevor Poeze and Patrick Pugliese sat out the season.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Ryan Cook	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (Signed with Huntsville Havoc)
Noah Delmas	Defenseman	Canada	Graduation (Signed with Kansas City Mavericks)
Tyler Hayes	Defenseman	United States	Graduation
Stephen Kleysen	Defenseman	Canada	Left program
Nic Mucci	Forward	Canada	Left program
Ben Sokay	Forward	Canada	Graduation
Kris Spriggs	Forward	Canada	Graduation
Cole Weaver	Goaltender	United States	Left program

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Matt Cameron	Forward	United States	20	Berwyn, PA
Mike Corson	Goaltender	United States	21	Darien, IL; transfer from Denver
Croix Evingson	Defenseman	United States	23	Anchorage, AK; Selected 211st overall in 2017; transfer from Massachusetts–Lowell
Christian Gorscak	Forward	United States	20	Jeannette, PA
Josef Myšák	Defenseman	Czech Republic	21	Litvinov, CZE
Trevor Poeze	Forward	Canada	21	Mississauga, ON
Jesse Pomeroy	Defenseman	Canada	21	Prince George, BC
Patrick Pugliese	Goaltender	United States	21	Pasadena, CA
Carter Randklev	Forward	United States	20	Moorhead, MN
Walker Sommer	Forward	United States	24	Avon, OH; transfer from Air Force

Roster

As of October 14, 2020.^[3]

No.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1	Patrick Pugliese	Freshman	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-07-20	Pasadena, California	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
2	Jesse Pomeroy	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-05-25	Prince George, British Columbia	Drayton Valley (AJHL)	—
3	Reed Robinson	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1998-03-11	Rockwall, Texas	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (NAHL)	—
4	Chris Harpur (C)	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1996-09-13	Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario	Cowichan Valley (BCHL)	—
5	Croix Evingson	Junior (RS)	D	6' 5" (1.96 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1997-08-28	Anchorage, Alaska	UMass Lowell (HEA)	TBL, 211st overall 2017
7	Jordan Wishman	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-11-22	Des Moines, Iowa	Dubuque (USHL)	—
8	Walker Sommer	Junior (RS)	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1996-04-29	Avon, Ohio	Air Force (AHA)	—
9	Eric Cooley	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-05-05	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)	—
10	Carter Randklev	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	1999-11-05	Moorhead, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
11	Scott Persson	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-08-17	Kristianstad, Sweden	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
12	Jason Pineo	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-02-23	Toronto, Ontario	Oakville (OJHL)	—
13	Zac Herrmann	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-11-06	Lancaster, New York	Odessa (NAHL)	—
14	Ryan Naumovski	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1999-07-28	Shelby Township, Michigan	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
15	Matt Cameron	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-06-08	Berwyn, Pennsylvania	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
16	Jared Brandt	Senior (RS)	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1995-10-26	St. Louis, Missouri	Miami (NCHC)	—
17	Luke Edgerton	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-05-01	Wheeling, West Virginia	Jersey (NCDC)	—
18	Dylan Mills	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-08-18	Cottage Grove, Minnesota	Sioux City (USHL)	—
19	Ryan Cox	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-07-23	St. Albert, Alberta	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	—
20	Christian Gorsack	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-06-08	Jeannette, Pennsylvania	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
21	Justin Kendall	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-05-07	Holmen, Wisconsin	Coulee Region (NAHL)	—
22	Alex Truscott	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1998-03-23	Draper, Utah	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
23	Cam Cook	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1997-11-13	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Shreveport (NAHL)	—
24	Josef Myšák	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-09-08	Litvínov, Czech Republic	Austin (NAHL)	—
25	Jon Hill	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-10-09	Whitby, Ontario	Brockville (CCHL)	—
26	Brandon Stanley	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	1997-05-03	Sioux Lookout, Ontario	Philadelphia (NAHL)	—
27	Jack Billings	Senior (RS)	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1995-10-04	Oak Lawn, Illinois	Salve Regina (CCC)	—
28	Jack Zielinski	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1996-08-08	Richmond, Virginia	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
29	Ludwig Stenlund	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-04-16	Skellefteå, Sweden	Madison (USHL)	—
31	Chad Veltri	Sophomore	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-06-03	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Youngstown (USHL)	—
33	Brian Wilson	Senior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1996-09-27	Pickering, Ontario	Powell River (BCHL)	—
35	Mike Corson	Junior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-04-22	Darien, Illinois	Denver (NCHC)	—
37	Trevor Poeze	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-07-17	Mississauga, Ontario	Kanata (CCHL)	—

Standings

2020–21 Atlantic Hockey Standings v t e
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OW	OL	SW	PTS	PT%	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#15 American International †*	12	11	1	0	1	0	0	32	.889	47	18	19	15	4	0	67	40
Army	15	10	4	1	3	1	1	30	.667	42	33	22	15	6	1	71	48
Robert Morris	15	10	5	0	2	1	0	29	.644	58	48	24	15	9	0	85	69
Canisius	13	8	5	0	1	1	0	24	.615	42	34	17	11	6	0	59	46
RIT	13	7	5	1	0	0	1	23	.590	43	40	20	9	9	2	68	70
Sacred Heart	13	6	6	1	1	2	0	20	.513	35	38	18	6	10	2	43	59
Mercyhurst	16	7	8	1	1	1	1	23	.479	54	50	21	8	12	1	64	67
Bentley	15	4	11	0	1	5	0	16	.356	35	48	16	5	11	0	42	51
Niagara	15	3	9	3	0	2	1	15	.333	39	53	22	7	12	3	57	70
Air Force	13	3	9	1	2	1	0	9	.231	32	49	14	3	10	1	35	56
Holy Cross	12	3	9	0	2	0	0	7	.194	22	38	16	4	12	0	30	52
Championship: March 20, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Site	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
December 5	5:05 PM	at RIT	Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York	Veltri	T 3–3 ^SOL	0	0–0–1 (0–0–1)
December 6	5:05 PM	vs. RIT	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Veltri	L 1–5	0	0–1–1 (0–1–1)
December 9	5:00 PM	vs. #7 Clarkson*	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Corson	W 4–1	0	1–1–1
December 16	5:05 PM	at Mercyhurst	Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania	Veltri	T 3–3 ^SOL	0	1–1–2 (0–1–2)
December 18	7:00 PM	vs. Mercyhurst	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Veltri	L 4–7	0	1–2–2 (0–2–2)
December 22	3:00 PM	vs. RIT	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Veltri	L 4–5	0	1–3–2 (0–3–2)
December 29	5:00 PM	at #10 Clarkson*	Cheel Arena • Potsdam, New York	Corson	L 3–6	0	1–4–2
December 31	2:00 PM	vs. Robert Morris	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Corson	L 1–6	0	1–5–2 (0–4–2)
January 2	5:00 PM	vs. Air Force	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Corson	W 7–2	0	2–5–2 (1–4–2)
January 4	5:05 PM	vs. Air Force	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Corson	T 1–1 ^SOW	0	2–5–3 (1–4–3)
January 7	5:00 PM	vs. #20 Robert Morris	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Corson	L 2–3 ^OT	0	2–6–3 (1–5–3)
January 9	7:35 PM	at #20 Robert Morris	Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania	Corson	L 4–5 ^OT	0	2–7–3 (1–6–3)
January 10	4:00 PM	at #20 Robert Morris	Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania	Wilson	L 2–6	0	2–8–3 (1–7–3)
February 19	7:05 PM	at Mercyhurst	Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania	Veltri	L 0–1	0	2–9–3 (1–8–3)
February 20	7:00 PM	vs. Mercyhurst	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Veltri	W 2–1	0	3–9–3 (2–8–3)
February 26	7:30 PM	vs. Canisius	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Veltri	L 1–5	0	3–10–3 (2–9–3)
February 27	7:05 PM	at Canisius	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York	Veltri	W 4–0	0	4–10–3 (3–9–3)
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
March 8	5:00 PM	at Mercyhurst*	Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey First Round)	Veltri	W 3–2	163	5–10–3
March 12	5:00 PM	at Robert Morris*	Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 1)	Veltri	L 2–3 ^OT	0	5–11–3
March 13	7:05 PM	at Robert Morris*	Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 2)	Veltri	W 3–2 ^2OT	0	6–11–3
March 14	7:05 PM	at Robert Morris*	Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 3)	Veltri	W 2–1	0	7–11–3
Niagara Won Series 2–1
March 19	2:00 PM	at #15 American International*	MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Semifinals)	Veltri	L 1–2	0	7–12–3
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4]

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Walker Sommer	C	18	8	7	15	19
Ludwig Stenlund	C	17	7	7	14	2
Jack Billings	F	20	7	6	13	6
Ryan Naumovski	F	22	3	10	13	0
Croix Evingson	D	21	1	11	12	16
Ryan Cox	F	22	7	4	11	18
Jared Brandt	D	18	2	7	9	10
Eric Cooley	RW	21	4	4	8	18
Chris Harpur	D	15	0	8	8	38
Justin Kendall	F	19	3	4	7	6
Brandon Stanley	F	17	2	5	7	14
Christian Gorscak	F	21	2	5	7	8
Luke Edgerton	F	16	1	5	6	0
Carter Randklev	F	13	3	2	5	6
Josef Mysak	D	17	2	3	5	12
Zach Herrmann	D	14	1	3	4	6
Jason Pineo	C	21	3	0	3	8
Matt Cameron	F	4	1	1	2	0
Jesse Pomeroy	D	13	0	2	2	4
Dylan Mills	C	6	0	1	1	2
Reed Robinson	F	2	0	0	0	0
Brian Wilson	G	3	0	0	0	0
Cam Cook	F	4	0	0	0	0
Scott Persson	D	7	0	0	0	2
Mike Corson	G	8	0	0	0	0
Jon Hill	D	12	0	0	0	6
Chad Veltri	G	14	0	0	0	0
Alex Truscott	F	15	0	0	0	2
Jack Zielinski	D	16	0	0	0	17
Jordan Wishman	D	18	0	0	0	12
Bench	-	-	-	-	-	10
Total			57	95	152	242

^[5]

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Chad Veltri	14	828	5	7	2	36	385	1	.914	2.61
Mike Corson	8	439	2	4	1	24	224	0	.903	3.28
Brian Wilson	3	88	0	1	0	9	28	0	.757	6.10
Empty Net	-	15	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Total	10	1371	7	12	3	70	637	1	.901	3.06

Rankings

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	-	NR
USA Today	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.^[6]

Awards and honors

Player	Award	Ref
Josef Mysak	Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team	^[7]

References

^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "2020-21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
^ "Niagara Purple Eagles (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "Niagara Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^ "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.

[1] "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[2] "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[3] "2020-21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.

[4] "Niagara Purple Eagles (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[5] "Niagara Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 20, 2020.

[6] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

[AHA2-7] "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.

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v t e Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Dwyer Arena (1996–present)
Head coaches	Blaise MacDonald (1996–2001) Dave Burkholder (2001–2017) Jason Lammers (2017–present)
Seasons	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	ECAC West (1996–1998) CHA (1999–2010) Atlantic Hockey (2010–2024) Atlantic Hockey America (2024–present)
Rivalries	Canisius Golden Griffins Battle of the Bridge RIT Tigers
All-time leaders	Ted Cook (78 Goals) Chris Moran (102 Assists) Barret Ehgoetz (166 Points) Greg Gardner (64 Wins)
NCAA Tournament appearances	2000 2004 2008 2013
Conference Tournament titles	CHA: 2000 2004 2008
Niagara University Lewiston, New York